ANC delays mayoral candidate announcement until September

The African National Congress (ANC) says it will now announce its mayoral candidates for the 4 November local government elections in September.

The party had indicated that it would announce its candidates at the Sandton Convention Centre on Saturday, 22 August. However, instead of announcing the final candidates, the ANC revealed the potential candidates who had been interviewed for the positions.

ANC DOES U-TURN ON MAYORAL CANDIDATES ANNOUNCEMENT

Speaking at the event, ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula said the party’s election campaign was not dependent on individual candidates, but was driven by the party, with President Cyril Ramaphosa serving as the face of the campaign.

Mbalula said the party was confident in its candidate selection process and had raised the bar when it came to choosing mayoral candidates.

“In the past, what used to happen is that you would have a candidate after the election and whether that candidate is qualified or not, they would become the mayor. Now we are fixated on the idea that a mayor must have certain qualities and a solid education. We already have our mayors but what is important to us is the process,” he explained.

Reacting to the development, political analyst Professor Levy Ndou told the SABC that there had been high expectations that the ANC would finally announce its mayoral candidates.

Ndou said ANC chairperson Gwede Mantashe’s remarks that announcing the candidates immediately could potentially result in some ANC members defecting to other parties indicated that there were trust issues within the party.

“Another aspect would be the dynamics in the party, that even though some of the candidates could have been taken to the communities and approved by communities, the ANC still has to go through its own processes and such processes could not have been completed and that is why they have decided to delay the announcement,” he explained.

Since the 2016 local government elections, the ANC has continued to poll below 50%, particularly in metropolitan municipalities in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal, which were once considered party strongholds.

Some of the ANC’s potential candidates for Johannesburg include veteran Reverend Frank Chikane, current mayor Dada Morero and deputy mayor Loyiso Masuku.

In eThekwini, the potential candidates include current mayor Cyril Xaba and council Speaker Thabani Nyawose, among others.

PARTY TO LAUNCH MANIFESTO

Meanwhile, the ANC is set to launch its manifesto for the local government elections on Sunday, 23 August.

President Cyril Ramaphosa will officially launch the manifesto in Riverside, Diepsloot, in Gauteng.

The manifesto launch is expected to outline the party’s plans and priorities for local government over the next five years.